Predatory whales turn over ships and kill people. How to stop it?

Predatory whales also known as orcas, often at high speed, collide with boats and overturn them. One such case occurred in September 2018, 50 km from Magadan — the collision of several killer whales with a boat caused the death of one fisherman. Soon this problem will be partly solved thanks to the technology developed by researchers from the Oceanographic Institute in woods hole. They propose to detect the giant inhabitants of the oceans using special cameras.

Most often collisions of whales with ships occur near the Islands of the Persian Gulf. In this region the routes of the ships and boats pass through narrow channels, which are under threat of extinction, orcas. During clashes predatory whales are seriously injured, and the passengers of ships in serious injury.

How killer whales kill people?

Researchers from the Oceanographic Institute believe that to avoid such accidents is possible if you know the exact location of the whales. As a tool to detect animals they propose to use the so-called infrared cameras capture the heat coming when the breath of the whales. Because the ships also can emit heat, the developers have equipped the camera with artificial intelligence, knowing the difference between them.

Infrared cameras at the ferry terminal

The system will be tested on the island Gagliano infrared cameras have been installed at the ferry terminal to monitor the entrance to kilometer Strait. For one year they will be available to scan the area for the presence of killer whales, and if found, to notify operators of water transport. The island is already in use acoustic detection system, so the infrared technology will serve as a Supplement.

This work is part of an overall solution to collision avoidance. But if the technology is effective enough, we can install the infrared camera directly on the nose of the ferry ships — shared Dan Zitterbart, the head of research.

Orcas are dangerous not only for ships and their passengers, but also for the deadly white shark. After studying data on the movement of 165 marked by the GPS sensors of sharks between 2006 and 2013, revealed that at the sight of killer whales and white sharks immediately swim away from his place of hunting.

Recommended reading: the deadly great white sharks revealed a larger and more bloodthirsty enemy.

If you are interested in news of science and technologies, subscribe to our channel in Yandex.Zen. There you will find exclusive content that was not published on the website!